


To Worship the Powerful (And Destroy the Weak)

by AeonTheDimensionalGirl



Series: I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [9]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Big brother leon, Canon Era, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Consort Merlin (Merlin), Established Relationship, Evil Druids, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, POV Leon (Merlin), POV Outsider, Rituals, Scared Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Whumptober 2020, Worried Leon (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26904280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeonTheDimensionalGirl/pseuds/AeonTheDimensionalGirl
Summary: A group of reneged Druids kidnap Merlin with the belief that Emrys is trapped in a mortal body and must be freed so magic can return.
Relationships: Leon & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Leon & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939345
Comments: 20
Kudos: 731





	To Worship the Powerful (And Destroy the Weak)

**Author's Note:**

> **PROMPT No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD**  
>  “Take Me Instead” | “Run!” | **Ritual Sacrifice**

Leon had been accompanying the two newly engaged Arthur and Merlin to a meeting with the North Druid settlement in order to clear out questions about the upcoming repeal of the magic ban and begin drafting the new trade agreements; when they were ambushed in the middle of the journey.

They were knocked out immediately.

When they wake, Leon finds himself to be completely chained to a wall alongside a still waking Arthur.

And Merlin-

Leon and Arthur sat up in panic.

The soon to be Prince Consort is nowhere to be found.

“Merlin?!” they both call, feeling frenetic as they try looking over and over again the chamber they finds themselves in darkness.

“Worry not, Once and Future King, the weak vessel is alright” a cool voice answered as the room was filled in by light coming from torches who flared to life.

A man stood in front of a stone altar, dressed in robes like the Druids do and sporting the same tattoos, a grim smile on his face as he regarded the Knights.

“Vessel?” Leon asked in confusion.

“Weak?” Arthur hissed with outrage in his tone.

“All will be known” the man only replied as a door opened and five men came into the chamber holding chains and dragging- 

Leon knew it was hopeless to try, but he too began fighting against his bindings at the same time Arthur renewed his efforts, a righteous fury taking over him as he watched the boy he’d come to appreciate as a little brother be brought into the room with chains of cold iron encased on his wrist and neck.

Merlin, for his part, look calm and fierce, but even Leon could see the cracks through his mask. The raven was in incredible pain, as the cold iron tended to have a horrible effect on him no matter how thick or thin, strong or weak the manacles were.

“We welcome you, vessel of Emrys” the leader said.

Merlin blinked.

“Er, beg your pardon?”

A quick glance at Arthur was enough to tell Leon that his King was confused as well.

And, why wouldn’t they be?

Merlin had told them that Emrys was how the Druids called him. Iseldir himself had confirmed it so along with Gaius.

So-

_What?!_

“You, Merlin of Ealdor” the leader hissed darkly as the raven was dragged further into the room until he was standing beside the altar, “Are nothing but a vessel for Emrys” he declared with conviction enough to be believable if Leon were a fool.

Merlin, for his part, raised an eyebrow.

“Riiiight” he said, sharing a look of bewilderment with Leon and his fiancé, “I’m quite sure that’s not true, nor how it works”

“But it is!” the leader exclaimed as if he were preaching, “If you were truly Emrys, our lord and savior of magic, you would have stormed Camelot and killed Uther Pendragon the moment you were born-”

“I don’t think you know how babies work either-”

“-Magic would have continued to roam the land! Tragedy would have never struck! Dragons would fly-!”

“You’ve clearly haven’t seen the little white one flying around Camelot have you-”

“And your use of so call magic has been nothing but weak!”

Merlin quieted at this, opting to simply glare.

“What do you want?” the raven finally asked.

When the leader and his followers smiled, Leon felt his stomach sink with dread.

“We’ve developed a ritual” he said, “A ritual in which your mind, blood and soul is sacrificed so Emrys can finally come forth and take his rightful place in the mortal realm”

“You can’t do that, you idiots” Arthur snarled before his consort could, “You’d be killing Merlin!”

“Exactly, Once and Future King”

“If you even lay a hand on him- UMF!”

A rag had flown over and covered the King’s mouth, who continued to yell what Leon knew to be death threats despite the gag.

“You’re delusional” Merlin claimed.

“We’re doing this for the greater good” the leader said while his followers manhandled the warlock onto the altar and tied him down to it, “Your death will bring out the true Golden Age of Albion”

He cupped Merlin’s cheek.

“Bring forth the crown”

One of the men approached holding a flower crown of white roses, and Leon realized with horror that they were still equipped with the thorns when it was placed on Merlin’s head and the raven flinched as a small droplets of blood begun to appear.

“A crown of purity, pricked with blood of the sacrifice to cleanse out the weak magic” the leader declared as he too approached the struggling raven with a cup filled with a black liquid.

With a murmured spell, Merlin was rendered immobile.

“Mistletoe and berries of gaia! Cleanse this weak mind to sacrifice for our lord Emrys!” he chanted as Merlin was forced to swallow the whole cup, “Cleanse so thy sacrificed body does not rot and serves as our Lord Emrys’s vessel! Cleanse!”

And his eyes shone yellow, adding magic to the chants as Merlin finished drinking the potion and begun to wither and struggle for breath in the altar.

Leon watched in shock while Arthur kept on yelling Merlin’s name over his gag, pulling at his bindings with a fierceness that must be causing his body to ache.

Whatever was in the combination of the potion and spell, it begun to bring the warlock a considerable pain, for he arched his back onto the stone and screamed in clear agony.

“And now-” the leader said with a loud whisper, “Now Merlin dies… and Emrys is born”

And the men began to chant more enchantments, ignoring how Merlin kept on screaming and began spasming on the altar, hitting his head against the stone and blood began to pour out of his nose as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

“Release the chains on the rotting body so Emrys can come forth!”

The collar and chains of cold iron fell broken onto the ground, and Merlin stopped convulsing, sagging against the altar and going unnaturally still-

And the chamber exploded with blinding golden light.

When Leon blinks back the spots in his eyes, his breath (alongside with everyone else’s) hitches.

Merlin’s eyes are completely brimming with gold, the white roses on the crown have become diamond flowers, and there’s a slight glow to his pale skin. His face is devoid of expression, blankly looking around the room, while he stands in the middle of what used to be the altar, broken stone pieces scattered around him in a circle.

Next to Leon, Arthur fights against his bonds, screaming into the rag his consort’s name in clear desperation with tears roaming freely down his face.

“Little falcon” Leon whispers in horror when the warlock simply tilts his head at the distraught King.

The leader of the renegades begins laughing in glee.

“Our Lord Emrys!” he exclaimed, approaching the man with an air of reverence before bowing before him, “We formally welcome you upon the mortal realm”

“Welcome?” the raven’s voice echoes across the chamber, making everyone take an involuntary shudder.

“Yes, my lord” the leader says, sporting a look of complete devotion, “My followers and I have made it our mission to bring you upon this world, and we’d managed to rid of your prison. No longer are you trapped in a mortal body. Now you’re free to-”

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, for he and the rest of his followers are suddenly lifted onto the air at the same time the chains on the Knights break apart, flowing over to the druids and incasing them.

Awed, Leon and the King stared at the warlock, a furious look on his face as he kept his hand raised towards the men-

“I’m sorry-” Merlin coolly spoke, “But you’re horribly confused” he said, eyes still glowing gold and standing tall, “ _Emrys_ is not a separate entity from _Merlin_. I am Emrys as much as I am Merlin. I breathe the same air, bleed the same blood and use the same magic” he kept on saying, “You can’t separate us, because there’s _nothing_ to separate in the first place”

Arthur laughed a sound full of delight and relief while Leon felt his face split into a grin as he realized what happened.

Merlin- mischievous, smart, the future Prince Consort Merlin, had played their captors like a lute.

The Druids never had a chance of succeeding.

“You’ve been nothing but simple, misguided fools. There is no ritual, no spell that can accomplish your delusional beliefs, because it doesn’t exist. You know what you just did to me?” Merlin asked in a dark tone that made Leon very glad that he was on their side, “You’ve given my magic uncontrollable reign that would have killed everyone in Camelot and Essetir if I hadn’t managed to get it under control in time; you fed me a potion so fucking vile that has made my body ache as it had been buried by marble and trampled by dragons; you’ve locked me in chains that vanished my magic and were poisoning my body”

He smirked, sounding amused.

“I do have to thank you for the crown though” he chuckled as he nodded his head towards Leon and Arthur, “My fiancé has yet to grant me one”

“The wedding is on a fortnight!” Arthur exclaimed in exasperation, “Guinevere has already finished forging it, you idiot!”

Merlin nodded, smiling lightly.

“Very well then” he turned to look at the men, “You granted me an extra crown-”

“ _Mer_ lin-”

“-That I’m quite sure it won’t compare to the one my future husband commissioned. He likes to spoil me, you see”

Leon resisted the urge to sigh.

Leave it to them to do _this_ right this moment.

“Please- my lord” the panicked voice of the leader broke the moment, “Have mercy on us-”

“After what you made me go through? After putting my lover and my friend in chains?” Merlin asked coolly, “I don’t think so”

And with that said, he closed his fist, and the renege druids’ necks bended with a snap before dropping to the floor, lifeless.

It was too quick, Leon thought darkly before noticing how quiet the chamber had gotten.

With his heart on his throat, he watched as Merlin staggered in his spot, turning to look at the Knights with a lost expression on his face as the gold in his eyes began to simmer down.

“Arthur” he weakly called his fiancé’s name-

And his eyes closed and he began falling backwards.

“MERLIN-!”

Arthur catches him just before his head smashes against sharp stone, diamond crown falling off with a clutter as the King cradles his consort onto himself and fervently calls his name with clear mounting panic.

Leon quickly runs over to the two, full with worry as he takes in Merlin’s unconscious state.

He’s pale, face covered in sweat and blood and sporting dark bruises under his eyes, neck and wrists; while his breathing comes out in heavy pants and a trickle of blood comes out of his nose.

“His pulse is high” the Knight mutters in concern after pressing his hand to Merlin’s chest, too afraid to hurt his injuries in the neck and wrist.

Arthur nods his head in agreement.

“It must be the potion they gave him before the ritual, and exhaustion” he guessed, pushing back bloody black hair locks away from Merlin’s forehead as he frowned, “They said something about mistletoe and gaia berries, didn’t they?”

Leon nodded briefly before standing up and walking around what still stood of the chamber.

“What are you looking for?” he heard the King ask in confusion.

“Water” the Knight replied, “I might not be a physician, but for the moment I think it’s best if we fed him water to try and clean out the potion off his blood”

He cried in victory when he came across a waterskin near the bodies, sprinting to his friends’ side and holding it on Merlin’s parted lips, Arthur helping by holding his nose and gently massaging his throat to help him swallow.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the raven’s eyes blinked open.

“Arthur?” Merlin mumbled, blue eyes hazy as they went over the King to the Knight, “Leon?”

 _“Cariad”_ Arthur called softly in relief as he caressed his consort’s pale cheek while Leon laughed and replied with an eased “Hello little falcon” before ruffling his hair.

The raven gave them both a feeble smile.

“I-” he winced in pain, eyes bright, “I- I feel horrible”

Leon and Arthur flinched.

“We know, little falcon” the Knight said in a quiet voice as the King presses his forehead lightly with his lover, who raises a trembling hand to cup his cheek; his engagement ring of intertwined silver and gold dragons shining faintly with the torchlight.

“You were brave, so brave” Arthur is whispering as Merlin weakly coughs before briefly tensing in his love’s arms, eyes wide.

“Merlin? What’s wrong?” Leon asks in concern, reaching for his sword and ready to jump to the defense.

“Isel- Iseldir-” the raven finally whispered between coughs, “Iseldir is n-nearby. They- they felt-”

“The magic wave” Arthur guesses, he and Leon sagging briefly with relief at the assurance that there is no danger, the older man silently thanking magic for mental conversations.

The blond nodded to the Knight, “Leon, can you bring them here?”

“Of course” he said, standing up almost immediately, turning to Merlin, “Do they know you’re injured? Is there a healer with them?”

But Merlin shook his head lightly, flinching and curling onto Arthur in pain.

“Back at-at their camp” he revealed before staring at his fiancé, “I think we’ll have to post-pone the wedding” Merlin weakly muttered, looking forlorn.

Leon’s heart went out for them. By the state of the injuries, he’d been having the bad feeling Merlin’s healing process would last more than a fortnight.

But Arthur simply chuckled lightly before pressing a kiss to his consort’s head.

“Don’t worry about that” the King said as he smiled down at the warlock, “You know I’d wait to marry you at anytime”

Smiling at ease as the two lovers reassured each other, Leon turned around and went out to greet Iseldir, knowing that in time, everything would be alright.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Cariad_ = Welsh for 'Love'


End file.
